Prayer Day for my Mom

Hey everyone! As most of you know, my sweet Mama has been battling very severe ovarian cancer (after her second battle against breast cancer this winter). She just finished her final chemo treatment a couple of weeks ago. This Friday she will be going in for her post-chemo CT Scan to see how her body has responded to the chemo. It's a really big, scary day for my family as we will be finding out if the chemo has been effective. It will take a week to get the results back, so it's going to be an excruciating week. A bunch of my Mom's friends are going to be gathering together at 7:00pm this Thursday the 20th for a time of prayer for my Mom before she goes in for her tests. I thought it would be such an awesome blessing to ask everyone I know to also be praying at 7:00 for my Mom. I know that God can work miracles, and we are asking Him to do just that. Below are some prayer requests that I recently emailed to a lot of my friends, but I also wanted to post them here for people whose emails I don't have. Would you be willing to commit to praying for my Mom this Thursday at 7:00pm? Here are some specific ways to pray:

1. First & foremost, pray for complete healing of her body--NO MORE CANCER!!

2. Pray for comfort in her body as she is in incredible pain & discomfort. It sounds like everything hurts, from her head to her stomach, to the tips of her fingers and toes. She is completely miserable. Pray for an alleving of pain this week.

3. Pray that the CT scan is completely thorough and complete the first time around

4. Pray for her emotions--she is feeling very down these days.

5. Pray for my family--for my Dad & Emily as they are in FL with her, and for us as we are away. I am not doing very well with things lately. I've pretty much been a big ball of tears this past week. If you have never watched someone you love more than yourself suffer immensely, I don't know how to describe it except to say that it is far worse than anything I've ever dealt with in my life. We need so much peace right now. Peace that can only come from our Heavenly Father. Pray that "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:7

6. Pray for an outpouring of love for my Mom from her friends on Thursday night. She just needs some good hugs & encouragement--something to whisper to her heart to keep fighting.

7. Finally, join us in praying for a miracle. I have never felt God asking me for more faith than right now. I am praying the prayer that Hezakiah prayed in Isaiah 38. He fell ill & God told him that he was going to die. So, he prayed that God would spare his life so that He could bring more glory to God. This is what I'm praying for my Mom. I'm praying that God would spare her more years so that she can spend the rest of her days praising and bringing more glory to God. "For the grave cannot praise You, death cannot sing Your praise.....the living, the living--they praise You; as I am doing today; fathers tell their children about Your faithfulness. The Lord will save me, and we will sing with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the temple of the Lord." (Isaiah 37:18-19). Until God confirms that healing this side of heaven is God's plan for my Mom right now, I'm going to pray for a miracle--for complete healing. Please join us in praying huge and mighty prayers for my Mom b/c He is a huge and mighty God. I am trusting in His goodness and I know that His plans for healing for my Mom--either here on earth, or her ultimate healing in heaven--are beautiful & perfect.

Thank you so much for praying--if you're up for joining us, would you mind commenting me to let me know (if you've already emailed me--don't worry about reposting :) I'm passing along all the names of people praying to my Mom so she can see the army of people that will be meeting her at the throne of grace!! Love you all :)

Hello

Hi blogging friends. Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. I've been walking through a lot of stuff lately that has just felt very personal to me, so I haven't been so excited to share these thoughts with the entire world. I've just been very emotional lately about my Mom, about our adoption, about some decisions Matt & I are trying to pray through. Just a lot right now that is consuming my time and my mind. Sometimes I feel guilty when I don't blog, and quite honestly, that's pretty stupid. That's the problem with a blog....you get so used to sharing everything with everyone & then you start walking things that don't need to be publicized, and what do you do? So, all that to say, I'll be back soon with updates and pictures and all those other sorts of things. Until then, can you pray for me? Just a lot on my emotional plate right now. Thanks friends :) Love you & we'll be chatting soon, I promise!

Tummy Trouble and Other Fun Things

Hello fellow blogging friends :) I've been in kind of a blogging funk lately--haven't had much to write that I want the public to read....no offense or anything :) Anyways, I need you guys to pray for me. I've been having major stomach problems over the last month or so. It's been pretty awful & very painful. So I went to see my doctor & they did some bloodwork & that came back normal. Now I have to do a stool sample (sounds delightful, huh?) this weekend & then I'm getting an ultrasound on Wednesday morning to check out my stomach & my pelvic cavity. If that comes back normal then I have to get a colonoscopy. So please be praying for all of this. I'm so ready to have some relief. My doctor said that it sounds like something with my gallbladder, but hopefully we'll know for sure by next week. Thanks for praying!

In other very cool news--God has worked out our car situation! We knew that we had to sell the CR-V to get out of that monthly payment so that we could take care of some debt. We had no idea how we would be a one car family with Matt's crazy work schedule, but we were trusting God to work those things out. And that's exactly what He did!!! My parents are going to buy the CR-V & finish out our payments for us. They're trying to downgrade, b/c they have 3 cars right now. So they're buying the CR-V & GIVING us my Dad's old jeep. We were in tears the other night just praising God for this major blessing. So.....to swap cars that means I have to go to Florida next week--YEAH!!

Matt & I are going to drive & meet my Dad in Pensacola & swap cars & then I'm going to keep driving to FL with my Dad & will be staying for a week. Next Friday, the 7th, will be my Mom's last day of chemo!! We're all just so proud of my Mom for enduring all of this! I'm excited that I'll be there to celebrate the end of this! After that point she will undergo tests to see if more chemo is needed--please join us in praying for healing & for NO MORE CHEMO!!

I guess that's about it. I'm still having problems with getting my videos of Ava up on dropshots, so hopefully I can get that figured out this weekend. Adios :)

Dowensky

Hey friends! Some of our best best friends, Aaron & Jamie, have just begun the process to adopt a sweet little 2 year old boy from Haiti. They just started a new blog to chronicle his adoption. Go check it out & keep them in your prayers as they begin this very exciting & overwhelming journey!

Happy Half-Birthday Kid :)

Hey friends! Today is Ava's half birthday! She is 18 months old. I have been a little sappy about it today--seems so crazy that she's already that old. Her new words this week are "hot" and "no". That last one has been fun, let me tell you! And everything is hot. It's pretty cute. Her food is hot. It's hot outside. The inside of the car is hot when we get in. The oven is hot. I love it :) So for your viewing pleasure today I thought I would upload a couple of videos from the last couple of weeks. But for some reason I can only access one of them right now, so I'll try the other 2 later. This is a denial of poop. Pretty funny....



Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

My Rock Star Boyfriend



Ok friends. If you have known me for more than 5 minutes you know that I have been in love with Phil Joel (formerly of the Newsboys, although sometimes still with the Newsboys :) for almost half of my life. I'd like to give you a breakdown--a chronological calendar of events--of our relationship. Here you go......(ps: more bullet points for you fans out there!)

• 1994: Phil Joel joins the Newsboys


• 1994: I lay eyes on Phil Joel for the first time on tv--actually on the making of the "Shine" video


• 1995: I see Newsboys for the first time in concert at the USF sundome


• 1995: Same day. My friends & I stalk down the Newsboys after their set & wait for them at their bus. Yes....I was a 15 year old groupie


• 1995: Also the same day. I touch Phil Joel's hair and arm. Oh my goodness--it is official. I AM IN LOVE. Love people.


• 1995: Same beautiful day. I take about 10,000 pictures with Phil Joel before being dragged away by security. PS....I LOVE him.


• 1995-2002: I attend every Newsboys concert that comes within 5 hours of me. And at each concert I get there hours early to have front row seats. I stand at the stage. I mouth, "I love you Phil Joel" every time he comes near me. I try to touch his shoes. I am IN LOVE people.


• 2000: My roomate gives me a life-size cardboard cutout of Phil Joel. He lives with me until I get married. When I had roomates he lived in my closet--my secret love. When I lived by myself he stayed with me in my bedroom. However--we remained pure--he slept in the extra bed :)


• 2000--2004: I buy Phil Joel's solo albums & rock out to them pretty much every time I'm in the car by myself.
• 2001: I carry my Phil with me to the Festival Con Dios concert. Although being a grown woman I am peer-pressured by the students in our ministry to leave him in the car. I cry silent tears.


• 2002: I get married to Matt Setliffe


• 2002: Matt Setliffe carries Phil Joel to the dumpster & tells me to move on.


• 2002: I see Phil Joel's wife at a concert. She is blond and beautiful. And being newly married myself I realize that the love affair is over. We will just be friends. And I'm ok with that. I have fallen more in love with Matt Setliffe than I ever was with Phil Joel. Plus Matt Setliffe will kiss me back.


• 2006: I find out that our best friends, spur58, have just signed to the same record label as Phil Joel. They mock me & say that maybe they'll get me an autograph. I'm still waiting guys.


• 2006: Christmas time. I get a message from Jamie, and then 3 minutes later get a message from Maris. THEY MET HIM!!!!!!! They were at a label Christmas party and he was there. And THEY TALKED TO HIM!!!!!!! I am insanely jealous. Matt Setliffe tells me to move on.


• 2007: The other day. I pull out my old Phil Joel cds that I have not listened to in at least a year. (I am trying to move on people....) I open the cd booklet.......and guess what I found???? A song. A song called "El Salvador". He had written it after going there on a mission trip with his wife. I had forgotten all about it. So all day long I listened to my old flame sing a beautiful song about the place of my daughter's birth. The place that is so dear & close to my heart right now. And I love him all over again. But not in a oh my gosh, you are so dang hot & I want to kiss you sort of way. But in a, wow. God is so funny. We really are friends--God has given us a heartbeat for the same place. Now how cool is that???


• ps....I still secretly LOVE you Phil Joel :)

Back to the Bullet Points

Hey friends. I have been meaning to post for awhile now, but I feel kind of overwhelmed by all that I wanted to say. And so I kept putting it off, and now I hardly even remember all those things I was going to say. So here goes. Who knows if this is even the half of it, but it's the best I can do on this Saturday morning :)

• Ava: I know that most people that read this blog are far more interested in Ava than the rest of us, so I will start with her. Oh, and I don't mind that, b/c I also think that she's pretty great! Ava is now 17 months old. Oh my goodness--time is flying by people. She has been so much fun lately. I feel like I'm getting a better hold of how to deal with her tantrums. READ: ignore her. So, now that we have that a little better under control, I feel like I'm enjoying these days of early toddlerhood much better now. She is walking & running around like crazy. One of her favorite things to do is pull Oliver's tail until he shrieks. I then have to find the cat from his hiding place & love on him until he starts breathing again. She also loves to talk to Daddy on her play phone. She walks around all day babbling to him on her phone. It is way too cute. She also loves shoes. She tries to put them on & then takes them off. Very fun :) She's fallen for Elmo & even notices him on diaper coupons and from a distance in the store. "Melmo" is her bestest friend right now--well, except for Lola of course!! She loves buttons, straps, doors & anything else she can manipulate. It is fun to watch her figure things out. She is talking like crazy too. She is a joy & is so much fun. However, I don't feel like I've sat down in about 3 months :)
  
• Married Stuff: Matt & I were able to get away earlier this week for a couple trip---NO BABY!! Our amazing friends Crystin & Ben watched Ava for us for 3 whole days so we could get away. We went to San Antonio & had such a fun time. I took tylenol pm & slept blissfully until after 9 both days. I haven't done that in, oh, 17 months. It was beautiful. We ate great food (including one of the top 15 burgers you should eat before you die here), went and saw the most amazing movie, Becoming Jane, went to a jazz club & just spent time together reading, talking, catching up. They were some of the greatest days I've had in my life. Thanks Ben & Crystin--you gave us such a precious gift!


• Adoption: We are well on our way to finishing our dossier paperwork--woo hoo! We are beginning our meetings with our psychologist next week. We found this lady who is a Christian & who has done lots of adoption psych testing before. God is so good to bring her across our path. So now we just have to get ahold of our police records, gather some documents, finish our psych visits, get our photo pages done & we will be done with our dossier. Then we will have to get everything notarized before sending them to their originating states for apostilling by the secretary of state. We are not going to hit our target of early September, but that's ok. We're getting closer to Bella every day & that's all that really matters. Plus, we're still a long way off with our funding, so we can't submit anything for awhile anyways. On to my next point:


• Our Finances: Early in our marriage we made some MAJOR money mistakes & now we have quite a bit of credit card debt. God has been on us very heavily about this in the last couple of weeks. We are missing out on so much by being tied up financially. So, in an effort to knock out some of that debt, we have decided to sell one of our cars. We won't really make anything on it, but it will get rid of a very large car payment every month. I had originally thought that we could do this to give us money for our adoption,but the more we prayed about it we felt that God wanted us to use that money every month to pay down our credit card debt. Ok God--but what about our adoption??? However, we know that this is what we need to do, so we are going to trust God with this. We feel like He is asking us to work on our finances & He will provide the adoption money. So...please pray for us as we work towards being debt free. It's going to take awhile, but we're committed to getting there. Also please pray for us as we go down to one car--it's going to be pretty inconvenient at times! Finally, please pray for the remaining $3500 that we need to send in our adoption paperwork. We are believing God for this money!!


• My Mama: She's doing ok--definitely ready to be done with chemo. Last week's passing out ordeal was very scary. Thankfully she is ok, and Emily was with her & kept a cool head while calling 911. Only one more round of chemo to go & then she'll undergo tests to see if she needs more. Please pray that all is well & that she needs NO MORE CHEMO!!


• Randomness:

1. I still love diet dp

2. I have fallen back in love with cereal. And chips & salsa. Hello old friends.

3. I think that Jane Austen is just amazing. I love everything she's written & I loved watching her life in Becoming Jane. Go see this movie--it was marvelous!!

4. The Alamo is very cool.

5. I wish I could sleep in more.

6. I don't pray enough.

7. I really really love my husband.

8. I have gotten nothing done this week b/c I've been reading Harry Potter non-stop. I started the series back around Christmas & took some time off. While in San Antonio I started #3 & finished it last night. Now lies the question--do I start #4 today, or do I take a few days off to get things done??

9. I love to read. I mean, LOVE IT!! When I start a good book I cannot get anything else done. It is a blessing & a curse. Ps--I love Harry Potter.

10. I want to get a pretty party dress some day.

Pictures From The Last Month Here are some pictures that I've taken recently. Enjoy! I'm having the hardest time with my blog right now, so I don't know if it will let me label them. A bullet point update is on its way soon :)

Ava & PawPaw--quite possibly her favorite person on earth.
Ava & Emmy being silly :)
Pretty girl

The Murbach girls

Mi familia

Ava in her kimono outfit from Daddy's trip to China--she looked SO CUTE!

Reading her favorite book

Ava in her (too big!!) new kicks--excuse the yellow socks--it's all I could find :)

Hanging out with some of her best friends

I Ain't No Southern Girl :)

For all of those that say I've lost my Yankee roots... and yes, I do still call it pop :)

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
North Central
The West
Boston
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

New Blankets For Sale!!




Hey friends! My sister, Emmy & I are so excited to show you our new blankets! I have been in Florida for the past 2 weeks while Matt is on a mission trip in China. While I've been here Emmy and I have been working like crazy making blankets. We watched the whole first season of Gilmore Girls while we cut, pinned and sewed. It's been a lot of fun! You can see all the blankets at www.auntieemscreations.blogspot.com . We also still have the pink & blue blankets that we have sold in the past. However, due to low demand, we have discontinued the blue polka-dot/fish blanket. But we think you will like the new ones a lot! So take a look around & tell your friends about us! Remember, 100% of profits made from the blankets go into our El Salvador adoption fund! You can also make a donation if you don't have a need for a baby blanket but still want to help out. Thanks for helping us bring baby Bella home, and thanks for stopping by!

Another Milestone Reached

I am so so so so so so tired but I had to post a quick blog. Since this blog (at the moment at least!) is the closest thing I have to a baby book for baby #2, I just had to write this down before I forgot. Today I mailed off our USCIS application & a big chunk of change!! Yeah!! We are getting so much closer to finishing all the paperwork for our adoption....it's starting to get pretty exciting. We still have a ways to go--probably 1-2 more months of work, but we're closer today than we have been yet. God has so faithfully provided every cent that we have needed. I am just in awe of His provision. What I love most is that He is using you--the Body of Christ to provide for us. He could just dump money through our chimney, but this is so much more real....so much more beautiful! We watched a Primetime special tonight about adoption--from the viewpoint of birthmothers. It was so touching. I cried through the whole thing & I am just sitting here praising God that He has included us in this crazy, amazing plan of His for our family. It made me want to work that much harder to bring Bella home. (And yes...we are still calling her Bella around here :) Love you all...I'm off to dreamland.....

Prayer

I found this over at my friend Ginger's blog. It was too good not to share.

{ from ted loder’s guerillas of grace: }

how shall i pray?

are tears prayers, lord?

are screams prayers,
or groans
or sighs
or curses?

can trembling hands be lifted to you,
or clenched fists
or the cold sweat that trickles down my back
or the cramps that knot my stomach?

will you accept my prayers, lord,
my real prayers,
rooted in the muck and mud and rock of my life,
and not just the pretty, cut-flower,
gracefully arranged bouquet of words?

will you accept me, lord,
as i really am,
messed up mixture of glory and grime?

Hello From Florida!

Hi friends :) Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. I've been in Florida for a week now, spending time with my family while Matt is in China. I'm having a really good time here. I've been sick for most of the week, but I'm feeling a little better today. I've had a few "I think I need to go the emergency room" moments & a major pregnancy scare (I'm not--praise God!!). It's been an interesting week :)

I've talked to Matt a couple of times & it sounds like they're having a really amazing trip. 5 college students have already given their life to Christ! Every time I talk to him he says, I want to adopt from China--maybe one day! We are going for a kid in every color--red & yellow, black & white. We'll see where God leads us. They got to worship with a house church pastor the other day--it sounds like it was a very sweet time. He's also hoping to be able to go to a house church meeting in the next couple of days. I am so thankful that he is getting these experiences, but a little jealous that I'm not right there with him! Hopefully someday I'll get there. For all my single friends out there--go on as many mission trips as you can before you get married & have babies--it's so much harder now & it's the one thing I miss the most!

My Mom is doing ok. She just left for the hospital for a red blood cell booster shot. She finished her 4th round of chemo yesterday. Her body is extremely worn & tired, but she is still so strong. I know she doesn't think she is, but I do. I think she's more beautiful & strong than she's ever been & I'm proud to be her daughter. We've had some good news in the last few days about her cancer, but I can't remember the right terminology, so I'll save that for another post. I think her cancer cell counts are way down. Praise God for good news! I'll update when I get things figured out.

Emmy & I have been making blankets like crazy. We bought some new fabrics & should have those for sale in the next few days. I"ll just give you a preview.....we have toile & polka dots!! They are SO CUTE!! I can't wait to start selling them--I think people will really love them.

On the adoption front....we have a first draft of our homestudy!! Yeah! We should have the final notarized copy by next week. Then all we have to do is complete our psychological testing and gather some documents & we're done with all the paperwork!!! We're getting so close to the finish line--I'm so excited! We need a HUGE chunk of money in the next month, so please pray that we will be accepted by the grant & loan scholarships that we're about to apply for. We'll also be selling t-shirts when we get home, so if you know anyone who wants one, let me know!!

Last of all...I have always loved Hillsong United. But their new stuff is just so good. Go check them out here or here.

Here are some pictures for your view pleasure.


Ava's "I just smashed bananas in my hair & I don't like you laughing about it" face


the girls


Ava with Auntie Em & Grandma


Getting ready to swim


Swimming & not so sure if she's liking it


Playing with her new favorite toy

Back Pain, Home Study & My Mama

Hey friends! I hope you've had a good Sunday. I had to stay home from church this morning b/c I somehow managed to throw my back out this week & I am pretty much couch bound. Not fun! But I am managing & thankfully Ava has been good for me. I also wanted to keep Ava out of the nursery this week since it is a breeding ground for germs. We're headed to Florida on Friday to spend 2 weeks with my family while Matt is in China. Since my Mom is in chemo, her immune system is very weak & I didn't want to bring any extra germs with us. So, we had a quiet morning at home. Please pray that my back starts healing....we have so much to do by tomorrow night before our social worker comes.

Tomorrow we have our last meeting with our social worker, Beth. We have our in-home visit where she tours our home, does our final couple interview & observes how we interact with Ava in her own environment. We are SO happy that our homestudy is wrapping up. It's definitely the most labor intensive part of our entire adoption process. We were really wanting to have our final meeting before we both took off for the rest of the month, so we're really happy that it all worked out. The US Center for Immigration Services (USCIS) is increasing their fees on July 31, so we really wanted to have our homestudy complete by then so we don't have to pay the extra (large) charge. Praise God....it looks like it will happen! The only bad thing by finishing early is that we now need our fee ASAP. Pray that God provides the last $300 that we need for this portion of our paperwork! Thanks for praying!! When we get back in August, we will just have to meet with our psychologist for IQ, personality & general testing and then gather a few more documents & our entire dossier will be COMPLETE!! We're hoping to have everything done & sent by early September. Please pray with us as we work diligently to complete this goal. Once our homestudy is complete we can start applying for grants & loans (hallelujah!!). To submit our dossier we will need another $5,500, so we are really hoping to be accepted by some grant organizations. After everything is turned in we will have about a year to wait for the referral of our daughter & then we will travel to get her about a month after that. SO.....hopefully she will be home by next fall.....YEAH!!! Thanks for praying through all of these things with us!

Finally, an update on my Mom. She is halfway done with her chemo treatments now. She has the week off and begins her 4th round next Friday. She had a CT Scan done this week to see the progress of the chemo. We should have the results from that by Friday. Please be praying for this.....we really need some good news right now. Pray that the chemo is doing its work & that she is on the road to being cancer free. She has about 2 good days per chemo round & the rest of the time she feels completely terrible. Her main pain is in her stomach....it's very tight, crampy & uncomfortable. She is also not sleeping very well. Please be praying for her as she begins round #4 this weekend. Thanks for your prayers. I can't wait to see my family & to spend some special time with my Mom.

Oops...one more thing :) Our family coordinator with AWAA traveled to El Salvador last week to work in-country to get some things moving within our program. The first referrals should be handed out soon to the 1st families...very exciting! El Salvador is trying to get some of the older & special needs kids adopted out first before they move on to the infants & toddlers. Here are some pictures she took of some kids that are adoptable. They are so beautiful. I thought I'd put the pictures on my blog....you never know who might see one of these kids & decide to pursue their adoption. Plus you get to see how incredible beautiful the El Salvadorian people are! Love you all! If you or anyone you know is even slightly interested in any of these kids, click here to find out how to contact AWAA.

I Am Truly Unique!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Ava Bug

Silliness

Here are some pictures from the last day of jr. high camp with all the staff guys & wives. It would take 12 days to explain why the boys look the way that they do & I don't really care to spend my day that way.....SO.....if you care, click here to see what this is all about :)

Check Out This Website!!

Hey friends! One of my best friends from Florida, Aprile, just launched her own website for her teaching ministry. Go check it out....you will not be sorry!

www.aprilesweers.com

There are tons of reflection stories, pictures of her recent trip to Uganda, recipes and an AMAZING resource section with recommended reading. It is such a great website & tool for women to use. Enjoy! And if you check it out, sign the guestbook & let her know what you thought! Love you all!

Such A Good Video!

Watch this & let me know what you think

My Little Cuties

Hey all. I just had to share these 2 new pictures with you guys. I love them! Also, thanks for praying for us yesterday. Our interview went awesome! We have another one on Thursday & then hopefully our last one next week...yeah!! Love you all!



So sweet


Do they look alike or what?????